


For the Wicked or the Good

by EllieRose101



Series: Between the Lines + [5]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Missing Scene, Season/Series 07
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22467505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieRose101/pseuds/EllieRose101
Summary: “Can we rest now, Buffy? Can we rest?”Spike is draped over a cross and the scene fades to black, but what happens next? Buffy can’t just leave him there. (Missing Scene from the end of Beneath You.)
Relationships: Spike/Buffy Summers
Series: Between the Lines + [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1449136
Kudos: 16





	For the Wicked or the Good

Missing Scene 

There was a long, stunned moment before Buffy could move. Before she could do anything. She raised a shaking hand to her cheek and felt the tears. Took a shuddering breath.

 _Oh, god!_ She could actually hear the sound of his flesh sizzling.

Buffy ran forward and pulled him away from the cross. He let out the howl of a wounded animal and flopped to the floor, sobbing.

“Spike, stop!” She knelt beside him, tried to put a hand on his shoulder before they both flinched. _Shit._ How were they gonna get through this? She backed away a little, tried to think, but it was no use.

“Spike, listen, I gotta get you out of here.” Her tone was desperate – pleading – and she hated it but that was how she felt. Despite every instinct inside her, telling her to run, there was no way in hell she could just leave him there where he might douse himself in holy water, or try drinking some, or worse. Her mind reeled with the possibilities. “Spike, _please_!”

He looked up at her, his expression dazed, like he wasn’t expecting to see her, or was trying to figure out where they were. “Buffy?”

“Yeah.” She sighed. Held out a hand. “It’s me. Come on.”

He stared at the outstretched limb for a long time. Buffy held it steady best she could; pretended this whole thing wasn’t killing her. When Spike finally placed his palm against hers and let her pull him up, it was like she was ripped in two and sewed together again – both at the same time.

As soon as Spike was on his feet, she let go; rubbed her sweating palm on her pants. He looked around for his shirt but it was too far gone.

“Let’s just go,” she whispered. “We’ll get you a new one.”

A single nod and he started moving towards the doors only to pause again. He turned around. “Buffy?”

“I’m here,” she reiterated, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice. She just wanted to go home and be alone so _she_ could be the one to break down. It had always seemed so unfair to her that he could wear his heart on his sleeve so easily, when she always had to be strong.

He nodded again, but it was somehow less definite. It was sad. An acceptance.

She knew there was no point in wanting an apology. He’d said so himself. And damn it, he was right. All this went beyond that, anyway. He’d got his soul. His _soul_! For her.

But she couldn’t think about that now. Couldn’t let herself, or she’d do that falling apart thing. She swallowed, steeling herself. _Spike needs me. I just need to get him somewhere safe._

It was torturously slow, but they began walking down the hill away from the church. Buffy could see the night air turn to tiny plumes of steam as it touched Spike’s burns, like the wisps of hot breath on a cold day. Idly, she thought about how a fresh shirt against the wounds wouldn’t be a good idea after all. But it hurt to see him exposed like that. As in, physically hurt. Buffy’s stomach was clenched so tight, she could feel the bile inside being pressed, threatening to come up.

She hung back and let him lead the way, expecting him to go towards his crypt, but he veered off to the left. It took her a minute, but she finally realized he was going back to the high school. That’s where he was staying? Long term? She’d just assumed he was there as a coincidence, before. Or some cruel twist of fate, so they’d run into each other. God knows she’d been avoiding his old place on her patrols. For the first few weeks after he was gone, she still went, hoping to see him, but since then… she just couldn’t. And it wasn’t because she’d changed her mind. She still _wanted_ to see him, it was just that the not seeing him hurt too much. Every time she went to the door, pushed it open only to find nothing, made it all worse.

And now here he was. Here they both were. What had she hoped would happen?

Spike hung back when he reached the school gates, hesitated, then turned to look at her again. Buffy cursed the power he held in his gaze, hating how it could turn her inside out with just a single glance.

“Building site,” said Spike. “Can’t come inside. Need a pass.”

She raised her eyebrows and debated whether to argue or not.

“Not safe,” he concluded.

A dry, mirthless laugh escaped her throat. “No,” she agreed. “I don’t think we’ve ever been safe.”

He tilted his head as if considering that, his shoulders sagging.

Buffy sighed. “Go on, then.”

Another pause and then he did; he went, walking alone like a man to the gallows. She had to turn away lest she gave in to the urge to run after him; find something so she could tie him up. What was that impulse? A desire to protect him, or her? She honestly couldn’t tell any more. There had been way too many years spent lying to herself for that.

Buffy closed her eyes and re-centered herself. She’d check in on him again, come morning, she vowed. One way or another, they’d have to find a way through this.


End file.
